Fabric or substitute for leather for insoles



(No Model.)

G. A. FULLERTON. FABRIC 0R SUBSTITUTE TOR'LEATHER TOR TNsoLTss.

Patented May 27, 1884.

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-- raras .artnr GEORGE A. EULLERTON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 299.126, dated May 27,

Application filed January 3l, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Beit known that I, Geenen A. FULLER- TON, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Fabric or Substitute for Leather for Insoles, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of boots and shoes a variety of substitutes for leather are used; and the object of my invention is to furnish a fabric which has the necessary body or thickness, and the necessary toughness, stiffness, and flexibility to adapt it for use as a cheap substitute, mainly, for leather inner soles and stiff'eners. lfMy fabric is composed of a sheet of felt, or like fibrous material in sheet form, sufficiently thick to give the necessary body and yet sufficiently soft and absorbent to become saturated when immersed in a solution of glue, re-enforced upon one or both surfaces with cotton cloth. Vhcn the felt is in sheets, I immerse the sheet in a'solution of glue, express the su1plussolution, and then apply a sheet of thin cotton cloth preferably on each side, and pass the whole through calender-rolls and dryit, thus producing` a firm tough fabric, which, while sufficiently stiff, is yet flexible and resilient, and serves admirably for inner soles of the cheaper grade. But as the cotton cloth, which is uppermost after the inner sole has been used in making a shoe, is hardly sufficient to prevent ordinary glue from softening in use, and as the usual bottom lining or thin, false inner sole cannot be always relied upon for this purpose, the fabric should be made water-proof when a soluble glue is used. This waterproofing is essential for the better grades of my fabric, and can be accomplished by waterproofing compound (including suitable kinds of paint) one or both surfaces of the fabric; or the clothmay be made waterproof in the well-known manner. The waterproof ing may be done either before or after the fabric is formed. No material advantage is gained by waterproofing both-sheets of cloth b and d, except that either side of the fabric may be used uppermost in the shoe.

Figure l shows a piece of my fabric in crosssection, enlarged for clearness, a being the felt body and b and d the sheets of cloth. It will be obvious that the felt may be fed froma roll through the solution of glue between wringer-rolls, (to express any surplus solution,) carried between the two sheets of coating with a I cotton cloth, calendered, and dried; orthat blanks of the desired shape may be cut from the felt, and from the cotton cloth, and afterward properly united. Eig. 2 is an enlarged cross-section illustrating one of the highest grades-of inner soles made in which the felt blank a is died out of proper size, and the cloth blank -b is made considerably larger, so that it will fold over the edges of the felt blank a, and thus form a binding. If the blank b be large enough, it will also furnish two thicknesses (or when the cloth blank d is used, three thicknesses) of cloth, to hold the fastenings by which the outer sole is united to the upper.

lIhe felt is most desirable, not only because of its cheapness, but also because it is so absorbent that it is readily penetrated bythe cement, has little tensile strength or toughness, and the main function ofthe cloth is to give the proper strength and toughness, the desired degree of flexibility, resiliency, and stiffness being imparted, mainly, by the felt and glue. I

lBy felt I intend to include soft thick 3a iep,n as well as the cheaper shoddy cloths, wliicli, although woven, are made thick with shoddy; in fact, all fibrous sheet material in which the fibers are so laid upon one another as to make a soft absorbent sheet. f,

By glue I intend to include any of the known cements suitable for the purpose, whether soluble in water or not. It will be clear that when a cement is used not soluble in water-for example, rubber dissolved in naphtha-the subsequent wateiwiroofing is unnecessary; but practically I prefer glue to any other cement.

Suitable apparatuses for immersing the felt in the cement, uniting the felt and cloth, and waterproofing the cloth or the fabric, are too well known to need description, as is also the preparation of the solution of glue'or other cement used.

What I claim as my invention is The fabric above described, composed of the fibrous sheet a, having its fibers cemented together, and also cemented to the sheets of cloth b and d, either or both, substantially as described.

GEORGE A. FULLERTON.

A Vitnesses:

G. B. MAYNADIER, J. R. SNOW.

from my fabric,

TOO 

